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I have my own views about lots of stuff in this discussion, but in this comment I'm going to limit myself to correcting some errors of fact. (Other people have corrected a few of these, but they still seem to be in dispute.) I'm not going to lay out the evidence for each one, because it would be too long, but I'll try to answer questions (one at a time!) if anyone is still interested enough in this thread to ask.
You are of course free to disagree with my statements, but if you do you will most likely be mistaken. {;^)
Most religions do NOT claim that all other religions are false.
Neither Judaism nor Islam claim that believers of all religions except their own will suffer eternal damnation. Some Christian groups believe this; some don't. In Judaism, there is no such thing as eternal damnation for anyone. In Islam, "peoples of the book" (Jews and Christians) have a place in heaven, according to their merit.
While some religious people reject current scientific theories about evolution and cosmological origins, and some scientifically-minded people reject the idea of G!d, the two are NOT inherently incompatible and there are very many people who accept both.
The fact that you say "G!d" and I say "G!d" doesn't necessarily mean that we have the same 'thing' in mind. The fact that we call G!d by different names doesn't necessarily mean that we have different G!ds in mind.
Neither "religious" nor "Christian" means "believer in the literal truth of the Bible," although that is one religious/Christian option.
Jesus did not found Christianity nor any new religion.
Jews, Christians, and Muslims all generally recognize each other as followers of "sister" traditions all descended from their common ancestor Abraham, and therefore having certain similarities in their understanding of G!d.
But followers of these three traditions do not always accept that all three are consistently monotheistic.
Hinduism is not at all an exclusivist religion, especially as compared to other religions; nor, as a religion of revelation, is it a "naturalistic" one.
Many Hindus view their religion as no less monotheistic than the Abrahamic religions, and reject the claim that it is polytheistic.
Buddhists do not believe this world is an error (nor, usually, that there is a Divine Creator to have made such an error). Rather, they believe that it is fleeting, and that for a person to identify with their fleeting existence in the world is therefore an error.
Buddhists may honor the Buddha, but they do not worship him.
Many Buddhist communities do believe in hell, not as eternal damnation, but in the sense of hellish worlds in which one may become reincarnated according to one's karma.
I don't really have another one, but I didn't want to stop at #13 in case it might scare someone. {;^)
JESUS made it clear that some forms of worship are not acceptable to God. He spoke of “false prophets,” comparing them to a tree that produces worthless fruit and “gets cut down and thrown into the fire.” He also said: “Not everyone saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of the heavens.”—Matthew 7:15-22.
Jesus, in fact, said regarding some who would claim to follow him: “I will confess to them: I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:23) Further, when speaking to the religious leaders of his day, Jesus applied to them God’s words to apostate Israel: “It is in vain that they keep worshiping me, because they teach as doctrines commands of men.”—Mark 7:6, 7. Clearly, not all worship is approved by God or his Son. Thus, not all worship is true worship.
The apostle Paul wrote under divine inspiration: “Now I exhort you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among you, but that you may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.” (1 Corinthians 1:10) The Bible also exhorts Christians to be “of the same mind and have the same love, being joined together in soul, holding the one thought in mind.”—Philippians 2:2.
Where such unity exists, the result is, in fact, one religion. Accordingly, the Bible says that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”—Ephesians 4:4, 5.
For those that believe in the Bible story of Adam and Eve -- On eating the forbidden fruit God appeared and cursed Adam and Eve for their disobedience and lastly turned to Snake (Satan, they say) and cursed it to crawl about on its stomach throughout its life. Now, many people ask if the snake was hopping on its tail before God cursed it. There goes the Bible. And the story of Jesus dying to erase the Original Sir is all bunkum because Jesus never died on the cross. He was taken down after 3 hours of his supposed death and rigor mortis did not set in and his body continued to bleed in the tomb of Joseph of Aremathea. And as for Jesus rising into heaven ... well Prophet Mohamed rode up into heaven on a pure white horse ... and so did the father of the current president of North Korea ... Pure white horse indeed ... that's what's in text books of North Korean children !
The Vedas was written over time -- It evolved and did not appear from nowhere -- Hindu religion is over 5,000 years old -- Like the Holy Trinity in Catholic the Hindu shows the 'Atom' in dancing form of Lord Nadaraja -- as you know an atom has three components and in constant motion -- everything dead or alive is by atom. Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, former Dean of Eastern Religions in Oxford University says in his book, "Eastern Religion and Western Thoughts", Christianity borrowed theology from Hindu, administration from Roman and Rituals from Greek. Theology ! ? Yes the ideas of ''Holy Trinity'' and ''Virgin Birth'' are two main points to begin with. BTW, Dr Radhakrishnan was one time President of India and died a poor man w/o a house of his own. He was so honest ! Thank you for the chance to post.
Ok, there was this guy, Abraham. He's in the Bible, He's in the Thora and he's in the Koran. The Islamic People believe that Abraham was the Father of their Religion but nor of the Jews. The Jewish people believe that Abraham was the Father of their Religion but not of the Islam. Abrahams God is called Jahwe God or Allah today.
The Founder of the Christian Religion is Jesus Christ. He was a Jew. But his folks believed that he was the messiah (the savior sent by god). The first Christian Church became very powerful in the Medieval times. And quite corrupt. So there were several spin-offs. The Catholic church is the remainder of the first Christian Church. All other Christian Churches are basically the same religion just with a different organization.
tranth@ i m telling what our religion have taught us. well who/what why/ where.nobody knows and will never know. by the way , the energy source according to our religion is BRAHMMA he is an infinite energy source and he created the universe and he is belived to be a form of energy and today we all know that everything present around us is created by energy(e=mc2 the einstein equation) so i think there is some connections in our scientific researches and religions . everything that today our science tells us is written in VEDS(the hindu religion book which appeared from nowhere,and at that time when any civilisation came into existence). if you get some time read english tranlation of VEDS,you will feel what is your presence in this world
Hi, the Christian (all christian, not just catholic-christian) and the Jewish as well as the Islam are all considered Monotheistic (as in: only one god). And they all have "Father Abraham" in their books. And they all claim that he was a man of their Religion. So basically Jews, Christians and Islamic people all pray to Abrahams God.
The Hindu are Polytheists. That means they have several Gods. And none of them is Abrahams God.
The Buddhist don't really believe in a god. Buddhism believes that the existing world is an error. And that you have to reach perfection in order to go to Nirvana where you basically dissolve into nothingness. If you are not perfect, you are reborn and have to do another life on earth.
Christian and Catholic believe in God name Allah. But they mention Jesus more often than Allah itself. They believe that Jesus is the son of Allah. The difference (if I am not mistaken) that Catholic see more in Maria than Christian. Islam Believe in t=one single god named Allah. Allah does not have any son. Isa is just another prophet. The last Prophet that was sent to correct previous religions including christian and Catholic was Muhammad. Muhammad was chosen as the last prophet in the mission to tell that Isa is still alive in heaven and going to come down to earth to revise the present believe.
Until today, I still believe in the existance of God. But I begin to question why I believe in Him? Is it because my parents taught me, is it because most of people in the world do? I believe it it not t a mistake to seek for the truth... People say that believing in God is not necessarily to to be explained scientifically. If they say that Adam and Eve were the first human ever ad were sent to earth around 10000 tears ago.... why is it on the contrary to the fact saying that human fossil evcen found was 1,3mkillion years old?
It depends on your perception of God. If you believe that he is the ruler and the creator, then the Answer ie YES. If you believe that he inspired these religions, then the answer is NO. There are so many other religions to add to the list. Its like Pimp my ride. Everybody has the same make and model car each pimped out to suit their personality and lifestyle. They boast and show-off and maybe give you some advice but don't dare say "hey, I saw someone with car like yours".
Sri, religious scriptures and doctrines cannot answer (and were never meant to answer) questions of scientific fact, any more than science can answer questions of spiritual truth or meaning. The point of the Adam and Eve story is not to teach us how many years ago the first humans walked on earth; it is rather to teach us about our relationship with G!d as our creator, and about our relationships with the earth and with each other as all members of a single family.
Am a born Catholic but do not practice anymore. My humble opinion is ''Man invented God to keep order in society'' and Priests make luxury life out of gullibility of unthinking common people. Remember, Church said ''Earth is Flat'' while Galileo said ''Earth is Round'' -- The last pope made a public apology to Galileo for the wrongs Catholic Church did to Galileo after 400 years of the fact. Could it be, I wonder, if religion is for the weak minded ?
Ya, catholic priests and people talk of heaven and hell. But a few back there was ''Purgatory'' a temporary place where souls with venial sin are sent to suffer for sometime as in Hell to expiate the sin and then are thereafter taken up to Heaven. Sadly a Pope has shut down the Purgtory and now it is one way ticket either to Heaven or Hell. Wonder if some future Pope would remove the Heaven and Hell altogether and where will we go to !
lord "Natraja" by the way also known as lord SHIVA and hindu religion is much more older than you say the epic battle of ramayan took place more than 1,750,000 years back and for confirmation check the bridge made by ram between india and sri lanka and even american nasa have confirmed that the bridge is more than 1,750,000 years old so my friend you know nothing about our culture you have just read a simple coclusion by a fool!!
Islam is very similar to Christianity and the teachings are very simiar to what is taught in Christianity, even in the belief of Jesus Christ. The major difference is that Muslims do not believe that HE is the Son of God, and they do not believe that HE was crucified on the cross. The also believe that when their Prophet Muhammed came, what ever he had to say was the last Word of God and we should live by it.
Sure its all man made ... Our thoughts waves can reach out to some higher enigmatic power and deliver wishes. We do NOT need an advocate of a predator priest to get in touch with that power they call God. Ok, have the word God and use it to express your thoughts. But for heavensake don't shove your two cents worth thoughts up to our brain ... we'll do our own thinking ... thank you kindly !
I can't speak for the other religions, but here is the Buddhist standpoint - God is optional.
A Buddhist can choose to believe in a God or Gods, but as most believe in the theory of evolution, and any references to a God or Gods do not occur in the teachings, there are far more atheist Buddhists than theist ones. The Buddha, himself, was a theist - he was a Hindu.
Sri, I believe that, as my religion (Judaism) teaches, G!d is One. From that point of view, it's not only that different religions (including the ones you didn't mention, like Judaism, Baha'i, wicca, etc.) all come from G!d, but that EVERYTHING comes from G!d. Nothing exists independently of G!d, and that includes you, me, and all the religions that are not ours.
But is Christianity really a monotheistic religion?
Wouldn't the various angels and demons in Christianity be considered lesser Gods if we looked at Christianity the way we do other pantheons? Likewise Jesus as part man and part God would be considered a demigod.
In the end the Abrahamic religions are monotheist only by their own terminology.
Some people believe they are.
The Baha'i believe that all the different religions worship different aspects of the same infinite God and that the religious prophets of each religion came with the right message for their time and place.
Other people believe theirs is the one true religion and all the others are false.
I SAY THAT! There are some sayings that are the opposite of each other like: in Christian Jesus is believed to be the son of Allah while in Islam Jesus is Isa who is now still living in heaven and just one of the prophets. Islam say: other than being a Moslem people go to hell and so is Christian.
Yes Jesus was known as Isa in Muslim circles. How about the many Crusades organized with blessings of Pope. Every Crusade was set up to destroy the Muslims. That's history. Now some radical Muslims are trying to hit back. For instance, Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda followers.
@Shubham and @gullycan, even if the two of you disagree about any number of things, it's still great to have a couple of Hindus in the mix here along with the Christians, atheists, wiccans/neo-pagans, Muslims, Bahais (I think), and Jews! (Did I leave anyone out?)
No, definitely not
Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, as they believe in multiple Deities and has nothing to do with Christain/Catholic God
Buddhism does not actual even follow a God, they are all about higher learning and peace.
U R cent percent correct when U say : ''6. Jesus did not found Christianity nor any new religion.''. Do U accept the fact Jesus survived the crucifixion and went and lived, preached his Budhistic teachings and died in Kashmir, India ?
Hindu is a exclusive relgion because of it's nature of naturalistic relgion. catholics are christians for one, 2nd christianity shares the same God as judasim does. Islams holy book seems to have similar writtings to the torah.
god is one all gods come from same energy source. we have a saying by one of our god--- SABKA MALIK EK (GOD IS ONE) so my god is saying that all gods are similar so i belive in my GOD
I completely understand what you are saying, but I'm yet to meet a Christian that looks at it that way. Some may see Angels as demi-Gods, but I doubt many would give Demons that status.
I don't know about this thing we call religion. Perhaps it is all man made. What I do believe in is a supreme higher being no matter who u believe Him to be,Allah,Jesus, Shiva,etc.
Islam believes in that God named Allah and that is also the creator of Adam and Eve. On the other hand, Islam and Christian/Catholic are on the opposite to each other. how come?
I don't care how fancily your religion is decked out. I want to know how many miles per tankful, how safe is it for you and the rest of us, and will it get you up the hill.
I'm not sure about Islam and Hindu gods but I know Christian and Catholic people all beleive in the same God but have different beliefs and Budist worship Budha of course :)
I have never heard any Buddhist say anything about going to Hell. They are about learning and enlightment. I do not think they believe in any type of Hell.
Islam, correct Christianity yes from one God/deity, but NOW days none is accepted but Islam, it's declared in Qur'an http://funadvice.com/r/bpear9s09tp
there are a lot more religions than just 5. it depends who you ask, too. and how tolerant (or intolerant) they are of other religions besides their own
Hey friends, why should God be a male and NOT a female ? Doesn't that idea show God was figment of the imagination of religious organizers ???
I have not done much reading on Islam yet, so really can't say. I think they believe in something similar but I'm not positive.
Catholic and christian are not mutually exclusive so yes they do believe adam and eve's creator I'm not that sure about Islam.
FoS, are you a Baha'i? If so, it sounds like maybe you believe yours is the one true religion and all the others are false.
gullycan@ we tend to visualise every thing. and long back our ancestors done it we know what god is but in a puzzled form
Christian is the denomonation: Catholism is part of the Christian Denomonation many religons fall into the Christianity
Yes they are but only as a deception. God works with his prophets, Jesus and us saints instead of religious sinners.
i learned about this the other day, I know lslam, Christian, and Bhuda do come from the same God.
"On the other hand, Islam and Christian/Catholic are on the opposite to each other"Who says this?
If yes, then why each of them says that we would go to hell if we follow the other?
well hinduism doesnt say that you would go to hell if you follow any other religion
Catholic, islam and christian believe in Adam and Eve's creator, right?
other than Budha, the rest say that, right?
Thank you. That's another line of thought.
Shubham, what/who is that "energy source"?
What does evolution have to do with it??
meaning they have their own God?
...Or maybe it is vice versa
Who says God is female?
Um, no. :)
No!
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